National

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council has voted 8-4 vote to reject a proposed local law banning discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Advocate reports the proposal generated weeks of passionate debate about the legal protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the capital city. But not long after it was introduced, it became clear that the concept was unlikely to win over a majority of the council Wednesday night.

Council member Ronnie Edwards said she felt the fairness ordinance left out too many groups of people who are also discriminated against, including women, people living in poverty, people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, overweight people and ex-convicts.